Research Excellence Series - Health Sciences

York University Libraries has launched a new approach to teach Information and Digital Literacy to undergraduate students in the health sciences. Our health information ecosystem can at times seem difficult to navigate, but this series of three interactive classes are designed to help you achieve the competencies you need for success.

Series Description

The series consists of three 120 min classes. The classes contain multiple learning activities, discussion, and time for critical reflection. They are open to any student registered at York. Students can take the classes as many times as needed. We recommend students attend them in sequence if possible.

Enrollment & Completion 

Course instructors, we invite you to share this registration link with your students. We can provide a certificate of attendance for each of the classes your students attend which can be uploaded to your class at your discretion and for your records. Please let your students know they can see the three-class titles under the series “Research Excellence Series—Health Sciences”.  
If you are interested in this series and would like to incorporate it into your course, please email us at yul_slas@yorku.ca

Curriculum

In this interactive course, students will examine a news article about a newly published study in health to identify key information about the research. They will then use this information to help them find the original publication in different databases: e.g., Medline, CINAHL, Web of Science. Students will then analyze both the news article and the database record to identify key concepts—both subject headings and keywords—and construct a search strategy to find more information about the topic. In doing so, students will learn how different communities of practice communicate information to their audiences and how they utilize language specific to a particular discipline. Additionally, they will learn that different disciplinary communities have different types of expertise and authority. 

Learning Outcomes 

Students will analyze a news article to develop critical thinking

Students will identify subject headings and keywords pertinent to the health-related topic

Students will apply subject headings and key words to create a basic search strategy using Boolean logic

Students will make a distinction between database subject headings and author provided keywords

This interactive course offers students an opportunity to practice designing an answerable research question and then using that question to begin to formulate a search strategy in a subject database to find the best evidence. They will be given a health topic or scenario (or they can use their own project idea if they have one) and be guided through the process of developing their question through concept mapping. Using on this approach, students can see how a single health issue can be investigated from different disciplinary contexts (clinical, ethical, cultural, economic, etc). Depending on their choice of approach, students will choose descriptive terms (keywords) for concepts outlined in the question and create a (short) list of potential synonyms and use them in subject databases (e.g. Medline, CINAHL, PsycINFO) to identify appropriate subject headings. These terms will then be used to construct a solid search strategy using Boolean operators and appropriate limits. 

Learning Outcomes 
1. Students will develop an answerable research question 

2. Students will develop a comprehensive search strategy that can be transferable to other databases 

This course provides students with an introduction to knowledge synthesis as a methodological approach to integrating and evaluating research findings. It provides a brief overview of why these projects are undertaken and the different levels of evidence that exist (systematic reviews, randomized controlled trials, clinical trials, case studies, etc.). This course builds on and complements class #2 by offering students an opportunity to construct a research question using the PICO/PIO/PCC framework on a particular clinical/health scenario. Using the PICO/PIO/PCC model, students will then build a comprehensive search strategy for 1 to 2 subject databases (e.g. Medline, CINAHL, PsycINFO) using a combination of subject headings, keywords, and limiters. In doing so, students will learn how the type of question and the search strategy are connected to determine the kind of evidence that needs to be retrieved. 

Learning Outcomes 

Students will learn the rationale for conducting different types of knowledge synthesis projects

Students will develop a research question suitable for the knowledge synthesis project of interest

Students will apply the PICO/PIO/PCC model based on their research question